横田忠義さん死去　バレーでミュンヘン五輪金、７５歳

　バレーボール男子で１９７２年ミュンヘン五輪金メダリスト、横田忠義（よこた・ただよし）さんが９日、死去した。日本バレーボール協会が１７日に発表した。７５歳だった。葬儀は近親者で執り行われた。
　香川県三豊市出身。多度津工高（現多度津高）から強豪の中大へ進み、松平康隆監督率いる全日本に１９歳で選ばれた。６８年メキシコ五輪銀メダル。７０年に松下電器（現パナソニック）入り。１９３センチの身長から放つ強烈なクロススパイクなどを武器に、同世代の大古誠司、森田淳悟と「ビッグスリー」と呼ばれた。
　ミュンヘン五輪は腰痛を押して奮闘。準決勝のブルガリア戦では、腰に自転車のチューブを巻いて打ちまくり、０―２からの「奇跡の逆転」に貢献した。
　引退後は日本電気ホームエレクトロニクスの監督を務め、９４、９５年には全日本女子監督を務めた。（2023/05/17-10:07）

Former Japanese volleyball player Tadayoshi Yokota, who won a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, died on May 9, the Japan Volleyball Association said Wednesday. He was 75.
   From the city of Mitoyo in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, Yokota was selected for the Japanese men's national team at the age of 19 while he was a student at Chuo University, known for its strong volleyball team.
   The Japanese team including Yokota won silver in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Two years later, he joined what is now major Japanese electronics group Panasonic Holdings Corp. to play for its volleyball team.
   Yokota was known for his powerful cross-court spikes achieved with his height of 193 centimeters. He and contemporaries Seiji Oko and Jungo Morita were known as the "Big Three" in Japanese men's volleyball.
   Yokota participated in the Munich Games despite suffering from lower back pain. In the semifinal match against Bulgaria, Yokota played as he wrapped a bicycle tube around his waist to alleviate the pain, contributing to the Japanese team's comeback from being down 0 to 2.